Video 6:38
Reflecting on the legacy of Yothu Yindi's lead singer

Phoebe Stewart
Fri Jun 28 21:10:00 EST 2013

Yothu Yindi manager Alan James reflects on his 27 years with the band.

Transcript

PHOEBE STEWART, PRESENTER: This weekend a State Memorial Service will be held in north-east Arnhem Land for the lead singer of Yothu Yindi, Mr Yunupingu. The educator, musician and champion of reconciliation died at his home earlier this month. The 56-year-old had been ill with kidney disease for years. Alan James was Yothu Yindi's manager for 27 years. I spoke to him earlier.

Alan James, welcome to the program.

ALAN JAMES, YOTHU YINDI MANAGER: Thank you.

PHOEBE STEWART: You were the band's manager for, from the very beginning. Looking back now, what was it like to have that journey with Mr Yunupingu and the band?

ALAN JAMES: It had its highs, it had its lows but I wouldn't trade it for anything. He was a special person and he changed the way I see the world, you know I got to see the world through his eyes and I think that was, if you sum it up in a sentence that was really something very special for me. But also globally, you know we worked in 32 countries and often with indigenous people in those countries and even if we weren't formally working with them, they'd come out of the woodwork and interact and so I got to see a lot of things that you wouldn't otherwise see as a tourist as we went through those countries. So you know - an exciting and interesting journey that I think has had a positive effect on a lot of people along the way.

PHOEBE STEWART: At what point did Mr Yunupingu decide that not only did he want to make music but he also wanted to be a strong voice for his people?

ALAN JAMES: I think that was always his mission. What he did was transfer his classroom from the school at Yirrkala into a global classroom and I had a, I remember Paul Kelly probably in about 1990 or 91 when they first started working on 'Treaty' together and we were, we started that process in Arnhem Land then came back into Darwin and Paul stayed at my house and he said to me in quite a frustrated way, he said that when he writes a song he starts with a word that turns into a sentence which turns into a verse and finally there's a, you know it's like a painting, there's a picture and Yothu Yindi's lead singer starts with a, with a huge book that he's trying to cram into a song so he had the message - he knew what he wanted to say.

PHOEBE STEWART: What was it about him that made him a leader, do you think?

ALAN JAMES: His compassion. His vision, you know he thought of other people rather than just himself. Toward the end as he was in the middle of his fight with kidney disease he fearlessly used that footage of himself not looking that great at all and sitting in a renal unit on a dialysis machine positively to get that message out - you know if it can happen to him, it can happen to anybody. A lot of people wouldn't have done that, you know you would've tucked that away - I don't want anyone to see me like that - but he had no issues with that at all.

PHOEBE STEWART: Just last year, Yothu Yindi performed at the Arias and they were inducted into the Hall of Fame. Can you tell me what that was like?

ALAN JAMES: The Aria experience was fantastic. It was a lot of work that resulted in one four and half minute song that felt like a tour, putting it together, a few weeks of work but it was the final moment for the band if you like - it brought it all together and to have guest artists on stage that were involved in the original writing of the song like Paul Kelly and Peter Garrett I think was really fitting, and new emerging Indigenous artists from the Territory like Gurrumul and Jess Mauboy and a national figure with lots of original band members and so forth, it was a fantastic night and I think everybody's really proud about that and they'll all treasure their Aria awards for the rest of their lives.

PHOEBE STEWART: And what did it mean to Mr Yunupingu?

ALAN JAMES: I think it was a really poignant bit of recognition and I think he'd been missing that in the last few years where he'd been sought of struggling alone if you like to some extent, not completely alone, he had, you know his family around him and myself, a not for support group but from the point of view of somebody who'd been Australian of the Year and had all of that sort of national attention and international attention, that had all dropped off and then to be recognised in that way was I think really good.

PHOEBE STEWART: He was hoping to get a kidney transplant, what happened to those plans?

ALAN JAMES: There was a team of us including his doctor, Dr Lawton, who were actively working with him on the transplant plan and all of us were optimistic that that would actually happen, unfortunately, I guess the reality with kidney disease is it reduces your overall health in a quite a powerful way and ultimately that, you know, got to him and unfortunately he's no longer with us but you know I guess the really important message that he was trying to get out is it's, you know particularly for the younger generation, it's all about your diet, don't smoke, do exercise and if you do get sick and you get diabetes for instance, well you have to treat it and you have to treat it regularly and often one of the issues that's coming up is that people don't actually treat their underlying health issues.

PHOEBE STEWART: Will Yothu Yindi continue?

ALAN JAMES: His dream was that the band would always continue beyond him. At the moment I think it's fair to say that it's over, that's not to say that family members in the future might not resurrect it - it's not completely unusual worldwide. I don't think anyone will ever replicate what he did, you know his intellect, his capacity to work in both worlds, to actually have a traditional upbringing and then crossover, get a university degree, become a school principal, you know it's going to take a very special person to achieve all that so I wish whoever it is good luck but it's a big challenge.

PHOEBE STEWART: And what legacy has he left?

ALAN JAMES: I think his music will be with us for a long time and I think you'll find people from academics to just straight music lovers will be looking at listening to his music in many years to come and finding new parts to it that weren't obvious and people didn't realise or people overlooked. There's that and I think the family have requested or are hoping to actually start a scholarship in his name at some point in the future for academics or educators that are focused on both ways education and so we'll put in some effort to try and make that happen as well.